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Thursday, 17 March 2011

Three Al Qaeda operatives killed and two arrested in two operations

By Nasser Arrabyee/17/03/2011Three Al Qaeda operatives were killed and three others injured after a group of Al Qaeda fighters attacked a security check point killing three soldiers and injuring three others in the eastern province of Marib, official and local sources said late Thursday.

The attack came only two days after disgruntled local tribesmen stabbed and seriously injured the governor of this semi-lawless province, Naji Al Zaydi in protest over an unclear murder of a relative who was mediating between the government and Al Qaeda operatives last year.

Al Qaeda group, who were riding two cars, attacked the check point of Al Makhtoom, Rawaik area, eastern of the city of Marib, killing three soldiers and injuring three others before security forces fired back and killing three of them and injuring three others, according to an official statement carried by the state-run news agency Saba.

The local sources said that the remaining members of group were able to take one of the injured with them before they ran away in one of the two cars.

The group, about 10 in the two cars, left one of the cars behind them with weapons and explosives inside, the local sources said.

Last Monday, disgruntled tribesmen were staging a demonstration at the gate of the Marib local government demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and asking the governor Al Zaydi, to give them the killer of Jaber Al Shabwani, the deputy governor who was mistakenly killed by an air strike which targeted a group of Al Qaeda last year in this wide and desert province where Al Qaeda operatives are believed to be hiding.

The tribesmen, from Al Shabwani tribe, exploded an oil pipe line on Tuesday after the injured governor was taken to a hostpial in Sana’a.

Meanwhile, two Al Qaeda operatives were arrested in a check point in the central province of Taiz where big anti-regime protests started about 40 days ago.

The two men were identified by the security officials in a statement, as Khalid Saeed Ba Tarfi, alias Abu Mekdad Al Kanadi, and Ahmed Omar Abdul Jalil, alias, Al Lahji.They were described as dangerous operatives.

Ba Tarfi was known as one of the spokesmen of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP) and he is the local Emir of AQAP in the southern province of Abyan. Ba Tarfi succeeded Jamil Al Ambari, who was killed in an air strike on March 14th, 2010, in Mudiyah of Abyan province.